As Josh discussed in detail earlier today, the Yankees took a particular approach to last offseason. They eschewed top free agents, and focused on upgrading their defense while relying on their internal pitching. That last point is somewhere Brian Cashman has excelled. It’s one thing to go out and deplete your entire farm for a rotation like, say, the Padres of did, but it’s another to build a staff more out of raw clay.
One specific player and everything surrounding him exemplify this approach to pitching development: Michael King.
The 6-foot-3 right-hander, a former 12th-round pick of the Miami Marlins, King came over to the Yankees in one of those deals that nobody gave a lot of attention to at the time.